Applying for Federal Financial Aid

Federal financial aid can play an important role in helping you afford an education. Our financial aid staff works with new and continuing students every day to help them understand and complete the process. Let us help you be successful too.

Eligibility
Eligibility is based on your financial need. To apply for federal financial aid, you need to:

Be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen.

Have a high school diploma or GED.

Enroll in an eligible degree or certificate program.

Be registered for the selective service (males age 18–25).

Not be in default on a federal student loan, owe an overpayment on any federal grant, or have borrowed in excess of the loan limits under the Title IV programs at any institution.

To continue receiving aid, you need to:

Maintain good academic standing in your program and make satisfactory progress toward completing it.

Not be convicted of any federal or state offense involving the possession or sale of illegal drugs.

Apply for a PIN (personal identification number) from the U.S. Department of Education at www.pin.ed.gov. You will use this as your “electronic signature” on the online FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). The Department of Education will email your PIN to you along with instructions for using it.

Complete the verification process if you are selected by the U.S. Department of Education or NHU to have the accuracy of your application confirmed. (The FAFSA offers an IRS data retrieval tool for people who completed a federal tax return. Using it could make this process take less time.)

To continue receiving federal financial aid, you will need to complete a new FAFSA and provide supporting documents every academic year.

How Long Will It Take? The federal financial aid application process takes approximately two to four weeks, from the time you apply to when you receive funds. However, we recommend that you start the process at least eight weeks before the beginning of the semester.